Interactive Brokers for day-trading Futures?

All in rate of 2.04 per side is high relative to others I've seen. AMP, Lightspeed, Ninjatrader all significantly lower

True, but also the more I do the more likely I am to be in IB's lower tier for pricing. I've looked at various combinations of account balance and futures traded, and get values from 0.9 to 1.85 per side based on my style of trading. That's assuming I am able to get interest on my day-trading account, which is still not clear to me

 

btw, the 2000 estimate is from 200 trader per year, 10 contracts per trade

 

Really? Ninjatrader is similar... can't really find an all-in rate with AMP and Lightspeed... maybe I should review again...

 

Ninjatrader all-in for lifetime license is 1.81.

Exchange fee is going to be the same for all, commission at Ninjatrader is 0.52 if lifetime license, plus 0.10 routing fee. Interactive Brokers commission starts at 0.85 but no routing fee. So it's essentially 0.62 Ninja vs 0.85 IB. Lightspeed starts at 0.60 (not sure if routing fee). AMP also starts very low (can't remember off hand). They have a calculator on their website that gives all-in rates

 

What about platform fees? Data... research/news?

Because at 0.25 difference on 2000 trades, that's $500 yearly...

 

If you use Reatlick, no "routing" fee. They charge a monthly fee only. What you call a "routing" fee is really a fee from the platfrom like CQG, CTS T4, TT, etc. The platforms make their money from that fee, so they charge that and we and every other broker passes through that cost. It can range from $0.10 to $0.30. It is the price you pay to get access to a professional futures platform.

 

If this $500 is so important I would advice you to work and improve your trading plan. That would bring much more then 0.25 difference on a trade.
How can $500 a year be important for a real trader?

 

Me or OP? I was referring to OP's 200 trades or 10 lots yearly. I trade a lot more than that mate....

But welcome to the thread, you might want to read the rest before you dive into the deep end...

 

What you wrote is your opinion, not? Your posting was your statement. Unless you refer to OP.

 

My opinion? Wut? This?:

"What about platform fees? Data... research/news?
Because at 0.25 difference on 2000 trades, that's $500 yearly..."

If the difference amounts to $500 a year in trading fees in favor of non-IB, maybe IB has got a better deal regarding the research/data/news subscriptions... which might amount to that amount in favor of them... I'm just laying out some options, since that's more or less what OP wants to know.

Don't know how you come to think that's my opinion...